The invention relates to a vehicle safety belt system and, more particularly, to an improvement for a tension-relieving apparatus in a vehicle safety belt retractor. The improvement is a device which limits the amount of withdrawal of a shoulder belt from the retractor when a tension-relieving apparatus for the shoulder belt is in operation.
Safety belt retractors for use in vehicles typically include a rewind mechanism which operates to wind the shoulder belt into the retractor. The rewind mechanism exerts tension on the shoulder belt which has proven to be annoying to the user of the shoulder belt. Prior art tension-relieving apparatus have been proposed which relieve such tension on the shoulder belt. Such prior art tension-relieving apparatus typically prevent the rewind mechanism of the retractor from winding the shoulder belt into the retractor. As a result of such interference with the operation of the rewind mechanism, there is an undesirable side effect that an excess length of the shoulder belt can be unwound from the retractor while the tension-relieving apparatus is in operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide a limiting device which limits the length of shoulder belt that can be unwound from the retractor when the tension-relieving apparatus is in operation.
An example of a prior art tension-relieving apparatus is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 510,814 entitled "Safety Belt Tension-Relieving Apparatus" filed Sept. 30, 1974 in the name of F. C. Booth.